“We all got sadness. But I like to turn mine into fire, baby. What you do with yours?”

A dynamic and jazz-infused drama about what’s at stake when building a better future. In Detroit’s Black Bottom neighborhood in 1949, a gifted trumpeter and troubled owner of the Paradise jazz nightclub is contemplating a buyout offer for the city’s urban renewal plan. As the inhabitants of the famed but faltering jazz club ponder their options and dream of a better life, relationships are tested, new challengers emerge, and a mysterious woman arrives to turn their world upside down. As the fate of all their lives looms, they must decide whether to fight to save what’s theirs or risk it all for a chance at redemption.

This latest play from Dominique Morisseau’s widely acclaimed cycle of plays about Detroit once again proves why she’s one of America’s most urgent playwrights.

04-15-2017 to 09-30-2017 - As with all 75-minute Shoreline Chicago River Architecture Tours, the Spanish language tour will highlight more than 40 of Chicago's world-famous landmarks. Shoreline's bi-lingual guide Jim Collins will share the history of Chicago’s dramatic rise from the Great Fire of 1871 to become the home of the skyscraper and the birthplace of modern American architecture.

The Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events is pleased to announce a new program framework and name for Chicago City Markets presented by COUNTRY Financial®-uniting all of the City of Chicago-managed outdoor markets under one program, including Chicago's longest running farmers market at Daley Plaza, the historic Maxwell Street Market and community markets in neighborhoods across Chicago. Across the city, Chicago City Markets sell fresh seasonal produce, flowers, prepared foods, unique Chicago-made products and, in the case of Maxwell Street Market, rare finds and retail merchandise.

Photo credit: City of Chicago, Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events

Aladdin, adapted from the Disney film and centuries-old folktales including “One Thousand and One Nights,” is brought to fresh theatrical life in this bold new musical. Aladdin’s journey sweeps audiences into an exotic world of daring adventure, classic comedy and timeless romance. This new production features a full score, including the five cherished songs from the Academy Award-winning soundtrack and more written especially for the stage.

02-16-2017 to 06-11-2017 - Classicism, as an aesthetic ideal, is often associated with a conventional set of rules founded on supposedly timeless notions such as order, reason, and decorum. But classicism is actually far from a stable concept.

Organized by the Smart Museum of Art and informed by the perspectives of scholars from across the University of Chicago, Classicisms explodes the idea of classicism as an unchanging ideal. Through 70 diverse objects—paintings, ancient and modern sculpture, cast plaster replicas, photographs, drawings, and prints—the exhibition traces classicism’s meanings across the centuries from varying artistic, cultural, and ideological perspectives to reveal a multifaceted concept with a complicated history.

02-11-2017 to 01-07-2018 - Bright and bold and found everywhere along the boulevards of fin-de-siècle Paris, the color poster was a brilliant fusion of art and commerce. During its golden age in Paris, the epicenter for this art form, the poster was acclaimed for enlivening city streets.

Drawn from the collection of Richard H. Driehaus, this special exhibition will feature 45 works by the five grand masters of the French poster - Jules Chéret, Eugène Grasset, Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, and Alphonse Mucha.

05-19-2017 to 10-08-2017 - Named one of the top 10 tours in the United States by TripAdvisor reviewers, Chicago’s First Lady Cruises and the Chicago Architecture Foundation (CAF) offer locals and visitors breathtaking panoramic views of Chicago’s riverfront architecture with unmatched cruise commentary led by CAF-certified volunteer docents.

Departing from Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive set in the beautiful Riverside Gardens along the vibrant Chicago Riverwalk, guests enjoy open-air seating on the luxurious vessels complete with a state-of-the-art sound system, a temperature controlled interior salon deck, full service bar and marble and granite restrooms.

The 90-minute tour is brought to life by CAF-certified volunteer docents who share their passion for and knowledge of more than 50 significant buildings along the cruise route. The cruise travels along all three branches of the Chicago River offering unparalleled photo opportunities.

The 8th Annual Chicago Craft Beer Week invites you to explore our city via great beer venues! The goal of Chicago Craft Beer Week is as always, to entice patrons to explore the depth and breadth of local craft beer and honor those who enrich our community of beer lovers.

Click here for more information on beer tasting events and festivals in Chicago.

05-11-2017 to 08-25-2017 - In 1961 with The Americans, the Art Institute of Chicago became the first museum to accord Robert Frank (American, born Switzerland 1924) a solo exhibition. The museum’s photography curator at the time, Hugh Edwards, purchased 30 photographs from this now-legendary series for the permanent collection, and in 2000, the artist generously gifted a further 38 photographs—works that were openly personal and very different from his chronicling of the state of the country in The Americans.

This exhibition dedicated to Frank opens with a special pop-up presentation, conceived by the celebrated photographer and his longtime publisher, Gerhard Steidl. The two-week-only display includes 29 photographs by Frank, drawn from the museum’s latest acquisition of the artist’s work, his 2014 book, Partida. A compact “full-career” retrospective surrounds it, featuring reproductions on newsprint banners tacked to the wall, films projected from portable video “beamers” onto newsprint, and books hung in midair across the gallery. On May 26, the pop-up elements will be replaced with photographs chosen from the artist’s gift to the museum in 2000. Meanwhile, a companion exhibition, The Photographer’s Curator, surveys the breadth of Edwards’s tenure at the Art Institute.

05-01-2017 to 07-30-2017 - All-Access with Paul Natkin is a free photo gallery featuring approximately 30 iconic images of The Rolling Stones’ most intimate moments and experiences, captured by Chicago native and band photographer, Paul Natkin. Free and open to the public throughout the span of Exhibitionism – The Rolling Stones, the gallery is a complementary sneak peek of the main exhibit, highlighting iconic moments of The Rolling Stones on tour. All-Access with Paul Natkin is stationed in the lower level lobby of Festival Hall A, between Doors 9 and 10.

05-11-2017 to 06-11-2017 - AstonRep Theatre Company presents this Tony Award-nominated drama by Pulitzer Prize-winner Donald Marguiles. "Time Stands Still" focuses on Sarah and James, a photojournalist and a foreign correspondent trying to find happiness in a world that seems to have gone crazy. Theirs is a partnership based on telling the toughest stories, and together, making a difference. But when their own story takes a sudden turn, the adventurous couple confronts the prospect of a more conventional life. "Time Stands Still' is a witty, intelligent look at what happens when ordinary life is refracted through the lens of war.

05-06-2017 to 09-17-2017 - Dinosaurs are roaring back to life at Brookfield Zoo! Starting May 6, guests of all ages can step back in time and walk amongst these famous historical creatures and their mythical dragon friends at the zoo’s new Dinos & Dragons temporary exhibit.

The exhibit will feature 17 lifelike animatronic creatures, including a Tyrannosaurus rex and Chinese dragon, alongside engaging signage that explores the myths and legends of these fearless creatures. A dinosaur dissection lab, excavation site and other hands on activities will be onsite; as well as an indoor area where zoogoers can get up-close views of live reptiles, including a 6-foot-long Komodo dragon, seen for the first time at Brookfield Zoo.

Be ready for a more intense, jet-propelled experience — Seadog Extreme exhilarates with high speeds and the most horsepower on the water!

With exhilarating high speeds and full 360° spins, this jet-propelled ride blasts off to start and splashes down to stop. You will get wet!

Experience full throttle slalom runs, sharp twists and turns, and feel the raw power and excitement of Seadog Extreme's two 1400 HP engines. Also enjoy music and a fun narration about Chicago throughout your cruise.

Seadog Extreme is 30% faster than her doggie siblings, topping out at 45mph on the open water. Seadog Extreme is the most horse-powered commercial passenger vessel of its kind currently cruising the Great Lakes.

05-01-2017 to 09-30-2017 - Shoreline Sightseeing's Classic Lake Tours offer a dramatic panorama of Chicago's famed skyline accompanied by a narration on the city's dramatic history and world-famous landmarks. These 40-minute tours offer day and evening departures from Shoreline's dock at the west end of Navy Pier daily from May 1 through September 30.

04-28-2017 to 10-09-2017 - The Urban Adventure Cruise ®, Mercury Cruises’ signature tour, dazzles guests with stunning views of legendary skyscrapers and bridges while sailing along the main branch of the Chicago River, through the Chicago River Lock and into the downtown harbor of Lake Michigan. The 90-minute narrated cruise is a family favorite and offers a picture post-card view of the famous Chicago skyline.